The university has entered the final phase in moving toward a paperless
way of buying everything from paper clips to large research equipment.
After analyzing existing policies and procedures for purchasing goods and
services, a redesign team has developed a procurement process, detailed
in the Procurement Process Redesign Plan, now available for review on the
Office of Business Affairs Web site at http://www.uic.edu/depts/oba/.
The final phase of the project will cover all aspects of selecting a service-oriented,
cost-effective system that will meet the needs outlined in the redesign
plan. Purchasing agreements will be negotiated with preferred and partner
vendors, university purchasing divisions will be reorganized, and training
for the new system will be developed. An implementation team for this phase,
called the University Procurement Re-engineering Implementation Team (UPRIT
-- pronounced upright), has been organized and will be guided by the Management
Steering Committee, which includes senior university and campus officials
and is chaired by Craig Bazzani, vice president for business and finance.
In addition, UPRIT will be supported by three Project Advisory Teams (PAT),
one from each of the three UI campuses.
UPRIT includes university members from each of the three campuses who are
revising their daily work schedules to devote considerable time to implementation
of the project. Ronald Patrick, project manager, and Frank Tuck, assistant
project manager, will lead the UPRIT team with help from Leonard Kazmerski,
business analyst, and Madelle Becker, communications coordinator.
Team members are: Elizabeth Aasen, purchasing (Chicago); Robert Baker, purchasing
(Urbana); Stacey Carter, purchasing (Springifield); Mark Cooper, College
of Associated Health Professions (Chicago); Michael Horsely, University
Hospital (Chicago); Ron Patrick, project manager (university administration);
Michael Schlueter, Administrative Information Systems and Services (Urbana);
Robert Taylor, chemical sciences (Urbana); Kenneth Van Der Griend, Administrative
Information Systems and Services (Chicago); and Ginger Winckler, Coordinated
Science Lab (Urbana).
UPRIT is meeting regularly to develop a plan of action and timetable for
the project, which will be approved by the Project Steering Committee.
PATs also are being established at each campus. They will be composed of
campus leaders who will meet to review project updates as well as documentation
for major decisions about the project. They will support the promotion of
the reengineering effort throughout the university.
Finally, a communication strategy is being developed. The goal will be to
convey important information about the Procurement Process Redesign Project
and its progress to all employees throughout the university, while ensuring
an open line of communication for anyone with questions, concerns or comments
about the project.
While much progress already has been made, much lies ahead on what will
be perhaps the most ambitious phase of this project. Support from university
personnel is critical. Send your comments or questions to Ron Patrick, project
manager, Procurement Process Redesign Project, B-6 Coble Hall, MC-316, or
contact him at 333-9235 or rpatrick@uic.edu.
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